Recent News

Congratulations to our division for having a successful GRECC site visit on Thursday, May 22nd. Thank you to everyone who helped make the day run smoothly.

Geriatrics Division Featured in UCSF Magazine

Jun 03, 2014

Multiple division faculty and programs are featured in the spring issue of the UCSF magazine. See link to read more...-- Click here to view UCSF Magazine (see pages 25 – 29).

Dr. Greene takes over role as AGS liasion

Jun 03, 2014

Meredith Greene will be taking over Wayne McCormick's role as AGS liaison to the AGS/AAHIVM/ACRIA joint HIV-aging initiative. The initiative has started a website: HIV-age.org

Meet the new PREPARE research team members!

Jun 03, 2014

Please welcome Jacqueline Martinez, Maia Menschik, and Gabriela Vanegas to the Division! All three will be Assistant Clinical Research Coordinators working with Dr. Sudore and her research team on a multi-year randomized, control trial in the outpatient clinics at the San Francisco General Hospital.

Jaqueline Martinez graduated from California State University, East Bay with a Bachelors of Arts in Administration of Justice in June 2013. Jaqueline was previously working at Goodwill Industries/Transitions as a Career Advisor.

Maia Menschik graduated from The University of California Berkeley with a Bachelors of Arts in Psychology in May 2013. Maia was previously working at Ruckbau Bespoke Technology Services as a Junior Project Coordinator and has also has assisted on several research projects with UC Berkeley.

Gabriela Vanegas graduated from the Menlo College with a Bachelors of Science in Management in May 2010. Gabriela was previously working at Medic Mobile as a Project Manager and Patient Enrollment Coordinator.

Jaqueline, Maia, and Gabriela are bilingual in Spanish and English and will be recruiting and interviewing Spanish speaking participants for Dr. Sudore's RCT, The PREPARE Study at SFGH. If you have not already met them, please introduce yourself and welcome them to the division.

Mariko Feuz presented a poster at UCSF's 2014 Department of Family & Community Medicine Colloquium

Jun 03, 2014

Her poster was titled, "I don’t want to make my own decisions": decision control preferences in a diverse elderly population

Dr. Jessica Eng has been accepted to the 2014-2015 UCSF Teaching Scholars Program

Jun 03, 2014

The Teaching Scholars Program, led by Drs. Patricia O'Sullivan and David Irby, develops educational leaders and scholars through an intensive seminar series, mentored projects, a network of educational colleagues, and collaborative learning

Lisa Leiva graduated last week with her masters of art in education with a concentration in instructional technology. Way to go Lisa!

Theresa Allison has been involved with Choirs in Senior Centers

Jun 03, 2014

Theresa Allison involved in grant focused on Choirs in Senior Centers which is a finalist in the Google Bay Area Impact Challenge. If it wins the next level the program could receive $500K. Visit g.co/bayareachallenge to VOTE for the Community Music Center.

UC Care at Home receives grant

Jun 03, 2014

The Bernard Osher Jewish Philanthropies has approved a $300K grant for UC Care at Home

Dr. Perissinotto spoke at IOA Loneliness Conference

Jun 03, 2014

On May 30th, Carla Perissinotto led an Institute on Aging conference focused on social isolation.

AHPCCH Keynote Presentation

Jun 03, 2014

Dr. Brie Williams was selected as Keynote Speaker at the 7th annual Academic & Health Policy Conference on Correctional Health. She delivered her keynote presentation entitled “The Aging Crisis in Criminal Justice Healthcare: A Way Forward” in Houston, TX. This conference is the largest of its kind and serves as an important platform for researchers, policy makers, and other key correctional health professionals to discuss the latest challenges in the field. Caring for older adults in the criminal justice system is a growing challenge throughout the country; Dr. Williams shared present findings as well as policy and research agendas to address this issue. You can learn read more about the conference and her keynote here.

Geriatrics Textbook

Jun 03, 2014

UCSF Division of Geriatrics Associate Professors Drs. Brie Williams and Anna Chang are lead co-editors of the newly published textbook "Current Diagnosis and Treatment: Geriatrics, Second Edition". Division members Cyrus Ahalt, Helen Chen, Rebecca Conant, Christine Ritchie, and Michi Yukawa served on the editorial team along with former UCSF Division Chief C. Seth Landefeld (now Department Chair of Medicine at University of Alabama, Birmingham). Funded in part by the UCSF Program for the Aging Century, this textbook brought together leaders in the UCSF Division of Geriatrics and across the nation in geriatrics, home care, hospital care, nursing home care, and palliative care to develop a clinically useful guide to optimize clinical care for older adults and their caregivers. Copies can be purchased here.

Dr. Brie Williams published a Perspective article in the New England Journal of Medicine entitled, “Responding to Hepatitis C through the Criminal Justice System”. The article describes the growing population of HCV infected Americans—most of which were infected via drug injection—and argues that jail and prison settings provide an opportunity for HCV screening and treatment before infected individuals reenter the community. Dr. Williams and her colleagues call for a coordinated nationwide response to epidemics in which criminal justice healthcare is treated as part of the fabric of the American healthcare system.

WHO Europe—Prisons and Health book

Jun 03, 2014

Dr. Brie Williams
and Cyrus Ahalt recently published a chapter in the World Health Organization book Prisons and Health for the Regional Office for Europe (click link to download for free). The book includes several chapters by an international group of experts to help improve and protect the health of people in prison. Dr. Williams and Cyrus contributed the chapter entitled “The older prisoner and complex chronic medical care”, which covers the unique and complex needs of adults aging in prison and discusses how to address important geriatric issues in the criminal justice setting. This book will serve as the WHO’s leading international publication on prison-based healthcare and will be translated into several languages in the upcoming months.

Marielle Bolano joins UC Davis School of Medicine

Jun 03, 2014

Congratulations to Marielle Bolano who will attend UC Davis School of Medicine in the fall!! Marielle has spent the year as a research assistant on Dr. Brie Williams’ project to improve the health and care of older adults in the criminal justice system. Over the past year, she interviewed participants in a study to better understand older jail inmates transitional health needs; organized and presented at geriatrics trainings for San Francisco, police, probation, and jail health professionals; and led the successful creation of a first of its kind community resource guide for older adults leaving jail custody. The community resource guide was well received by the San Francisco County Jail health staff and will be distributed to eligible inmates directly via the jail health services and discharge planning systems. The UCSF Division of Geriatrics wishes Marielle great success as she embarks on a long career in geriatrics!

Dick Gregory invited to guest edit CDA Journal

Jun 04, 2014

Second year Dental Fellow, Dick Gregory DDS, invited by the California Dental Association to guest edit the July 2015 issue of the CDA Journal dedicated to Geriatric Dentistry.

Press release from Peninsula Health Care District:

Jun 04, 2014

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PENINSULA HEALTH CARE DISTRICT WELCOMES SEQUOIA HEALTHCARE DISTRICT’S PARTNERSHIP IN LAUNCHING AN INNOVATIVE DENTAL PROGRAM IN SAN MATEO COUNTY
Sequoia Healthcare District commits $1 million to the Center for Dental Health in San Mateo

BURLINGAME, CA, May 8, 2014: The Peninsula Health Care District (PHCD) announced today that Sequoia Healthcare District has committed $1 million to help bring the innovative programs and services of Apple Tree Dental into San Mateo County. The Apple Tree model removes barriers to access to a full range of dental care for all including the underserved frail elderly, individuals with developmental disabilities, and people with mobility impairments.
“We are grateful to the Sequoia Healthcare District Board of Directors for their partnership and generous contribution in helping to launch the Apple Tree Center for Dental Health,” said PHCD Board Chair Lawrence Cappel, Ph.D. “The PHCD Board is proud of its 4-­‐years of due diligence in defining needs, researching solutions, surveying current dental care providers, and finding the Apple Tree Dental organization. The Apple Tree Dental model provides high quality cost effective dental care; and treats patients of all ages -­‐ irrespective of physical and mental abilities or insurance status – and has done so for nearly 30 years in Minnesota. Its track record of success and sustainability will be an asset to the residents of our Districts and beyond.”
In 2011, PHCD funded a grant for Apple Tree Dental to drill down further into the countywide assessment’s finding that access to dental care was a priority need and assessment by examining changing demographics, the expected needs for dental care, particularly among the frail elderly, and whether or not current gaps exist in available dental services. This Dental Needs Assessment concluded that San Mateo County could support a sustainable dental care program to meet growing geriatric and special care dentistry needs. Based on these findings, PHCD committed to addressing the needs.
The Center for Dental Health in San Mateo (The Center) will be located on PHCD property at 430 N. El Camino Real in San Mateo. In addition to funding the due diligence process, PHCD has committed a $2 million impact grant to help equip the Clinic, as well as, mobile units to serve residential care facilities, and to fund operational start-­‐up costs. Sequoia Healthcare District’s $1 million grant will help the new program launch at maximum efficiency for the size of the Center and serve more residents in need from the outset. The Sequoia Healthcare District grant will be split into two payments of $500,000 each, the first to be awarded immediately. The second payment will be awarded in one year, contingent upon an interim report to gauge progress and impact in serving the residents of its district.
The Center will serve as a hub for both general dentistry and advanced dentistry services needed by underserved populations. The Community Care Coordination Center staff will manage the on-­‐site delivery of dental care at “spoke” sites, including nursing facilities, assisted living facilities, group homes,
and schools. At full capacity, The Center anticipates delivering approximately 8,500 dental visits per year.
To learn more about the Center for Dental Health in San Mateo, visit www.peninsulahealthcaredistrict.org.

About the Peninsula Health Care District
Founded in 1947, the Peninsula Health Care District serves the communities of San Bruno, Millbrae, Burlingame, Hillsborough, San Mateo and Foster City by supporting the unique health and wellness priorities of our vibrant Peninsula communities, and safeguarding access to health care services, today and in the future. PHCD fulfills its commitment to the community through oversight of District assets and infrastructure, planning for future health care needs, and investing taxpayer dollars in local health-­‐ focused organizations and programs.

Jun 10, 2014

Dr. Carla Perissinotto was selected to make a "Mission in a Minute" video about her mission to improve the lives of vulnerable older adults. The Mission in a Minute video series shines a spotlight on the work of extraordinary people at UC San Francisco. These brief videos allow UCSF faculty to quickly summarize their work, its importance and how it relates to the overall mission at UCSF. The series aims to inspire and inform the world about the many ways scientists, scholars, clinicians, and trainees carry out their work as part of the University's mission to advance health worldwide.

Dr. Calton receives an AAHPM grant!

Jun 18, 2014

Brook Calton, MD received an AAHPM Year-Long Mentoring Program grant to collaborate with Dr. Theresa Soriano, Executive Director of the Mt. Sinai Visiting Doctors Program on home-based palliative care program development and education.

Alex Smith is DOM TED-like Talk Winner

Jun 18, 2014

Alex Smith
was one of six people chosen to give a TED-like talk at the Department of Medicine Strategic Planning retreat on October 11, 2014. The talks are meant to highlight some of the innovative and inspiring work that is happening in the UCSF Department of Medicine. Six people were chosen to give talks out of 36 nominations.

Please see letter From the Chair below:

DOM 2014 Strategic Planning Retreat

October 10th, 2014

re: DOM Voices “TED-like” Talk Winners

Dear Colleagues,

We are extremely pleased with the response to our invitation for nominations for “TED-like” talks to be given at the October 10th Strategic Planning Retreat. These talks are meant to highlight some of the innovative and inspiring work happening in our department every day.

We received 36 nominations representing four hospital sites. Nominations included generalists, specialists, bench scientists, clinicians, educators and administrators. Due to the excellent quality of these submissions, we have elected to expand the number of DOM Voice winners from three to six. The Chair’s Council selected the following winners:

It was very difficult to choose the winners, which is testament to the impressive talent and passion that our faculty possess. We will acknowledge all of the outstanding proposals at the Strategic Planning Retreat.

We look forward to learning from our speakers and celebrating our department as a whole at our Strategic Planning Retreat, which will be held at the Mission Bay Conference Center, Robertson Auditorium, from 8:30 am – 3pm, on October 10th, 2014. All of the talks will be videotaped and made available online to all members of the Department following the event.

Sincerely,

Talmadge E. King, Jr., MD
Professor & Chair

Beth Harleman, MD
Associate Chair
Strategic Planning & Implementation

Congratulations to Dr. Schwartz!

Jun 18, 2014

On June 6th Janice B. Schwartz, M.D. completed her four year (2010-2014) service on the NIH Aging Systems and Geriatrics (AGS) study section. Way to go!

Meredith Greene Invited to Speak to the California Assembly

Jun 18, 2014

Meredith Greene was invited to Sacramento 6/10/14 to speak to the California Assembly Aging and Long Term Care Committee chaired by Mariko Yamada. Meredith spoke about the medical perspective of issues facing the Aging LGBT population as part of the informational hearing Faces of Aging: Aging and the LGBT Community. This was the 5th in a series of 7 informational hearings focused on the diversity of the aging California population.